System, Apparatus And Method For Scalable Internet Of Things (IOT) Device On-Boarding With Quarantine Capabilities

ABSTRACT

In one embodiment, a domain controller includes a quarantine logic to quarantine unknown devices from unrestricted network access. The quarantine logic comprises a first quarantine point at a first layer of a multi-layer communication model. The domain controller also includes: a first logic to communicate with a domain name system (DNS) service to self-allocate and register a domain name with the DNS service, the domain name associated with a domain to be managed by the domain controller; a second logic to manage a group of devices of the domain; and a third logic to receive a provisioning request for a first device via an access point that comprises a second quarantine point at a second layer of the multi-level communication model. The second layer is a lower layer than the first layer, and the second quarantine point is more restrictive than the first. Other embodiments are described and claimed.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No.15/168,321; filed on May 31, 2016; entitled “System, Apparatus AndMethod For Scalable Internet Of Things (IOT) Device On-Boarding WithQuarantine Capabilities;” with inventors Ned M. Smith, Ravi S.Subramaniam, and David W. Grawrock; the disclosure of which is herebyincorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND

Industry experts predict there will be between 30 and 50 billionconnected Internet of Things (IoT) devices by 2020. About ⅘ths (40B) ofthese smart devices connected to the Internet will be constraineddevices; that is, devices with limited compute, memory, storage and/oruser input/output capability such as a keyboard and display. Constraineddevices nevertheless ought to be secure to ensure proper functioning ofan IoT network. Consequently, methods for grouping IoT devices intocollections and for on-boarding those devices into a given collectionmay occur. On-boarding is a process where an entity responsible forcontinued management and servicing of the device (a device owner)accepts this responsibility and where a previous owner grants thetransfer of ownership. Current on-boarding processes are cumbersome andtypically require human intervention, as in the form of an informationtechnology (IT) professional.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an overview of a networked system inaccordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a detailed industrial IoT deviceon-boarding scenario in accordance with one embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a detailed method for a consumer IoTdevice on-boarding scenario in accordance with one embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a detailed method for enabling a knownindustrial IoT device to connect securely to a domain network inaccordance with one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a trusted execution environment inaccordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of an example system with which embodimentscan be used.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of a system in accordance with anotherembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram of a system in accordance with anotherembodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In various embodiments, devices such as IoT devices can be on-boardedinto a network by constructing quarantined network connections forunknown devices where device ownership, grouping, domain membership andprovisioning operations can happen securely. More so, given the sheernumber of IoT devices that are expected to come online, embodimentsenable secure on-boarding to occur wirelessly and with little or notouch or other human involvement (and potentially zero humaninteraction). As used herein, the term “unknown device” is used to referto a device that lacks membership in a given domain and/or ownership bya given owner entity.

Embodiments may builds on existing technology for constructing networkenclaves including Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers(IEEE) 802.1X, Remote Authentication Dial-In User Service(RADIUS)/authentication authorization and accounting (AAA) and DomainName System-based Authentication of Named Entities (DANE) (Request forComments (RFC6698)) and asymmetric cryptography techniques, all of whichtypically occur in the context of a trusted closed network. Embodimentsmay extend such technology to be applicable in a wider variety ofnetwork contexts, including open networks. To this end, embodiments mayenable on-boarding while protecting against attackers, such as couldoccur if devices are enabled to be provisioned by a first entity thatcomes along. For example without an embodiment, attack provisioningagents could take advantage of an unowned device by seizing control ofsuch device soon after the device is powered on for the first time.Embodiments may further employ protocols for explicit transfer ofownership based at least in part on the concept of a digital title,effected by a record or title chain indicating ownership transfersassociated with a device.

In embodiments, any given entity may assert themselves as an owner of acollection of devices, where this collection is referred to herein as adomain. As used herein, the term “domain” refers to a collection ofdevices having common ownership and membership within a group. Suchdevices may be wide variety of compute or other devices, which may haveheterogeneous capabilities. The domain may or may not correspond to anInternet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) domain, in that there can be devicesthat do not implement an IP protocol stack, but are neverthelessconsidered part of the owner's collection or domain. Thus, in contrastto a conventional remediation network such as an IPv4/6 subnet that onlycontains a remediation server, embodiments provide a remediation networkthat spans multiple levels of a communication model.

Stated another way, this self-assertion of ownership of a namespace maybe for a namespace that does not necessarily correspond to an IPv4/6network address. As such, embodiments enable a namespace to beestablished according to a variety of schemes, not just IP addresses(e.g., URIs, Object IDs, DUNS, UUIDs or another scheme). This ensuresthat domain owners may self-assert a domain identifier withoutsubjection to the established naming authority of a given networkconnectivity standard. In this way, owners can be shielded from havingto obtain namespace rights in every network layer technology that may becontained in the various owned IoT devices, without further aligningthem in some way as the domain owner spanning them.

The naming approach herein differs from the notion of a Public KeyInfrastructure (PKI) Certificate Authority (CA) in that a CA necessarilyestablishes a trusted binding between an asymmetric key and a name (e.g.X.500 RDN or IPv4 DNS name). Instead in embodiments, a domain owner canmanage association of an EPID key with an EPID group, and associate adomain name with an EPID public key hash (potentially without acertificate). A DANE service may be used to ensure all participants in anetwork agree on the naming convention and associated anchor values.

Devices become owned by an owner when they are provisioned with acredential issued by the owner that allows the device to assertmembership in the collection. In an embodiment, an Intel® EnhancedPrivacy identifier (EPID) may be used as a credential that achieves thisassertion. And in an embodiment, an EPID Join protocol provides a methodfor provisioning group asymmetric credentials.

According to various embodiments, a quarantine network, also referred toherein as a remediation network, is used to establish a secureconnection for provisioning. Although the scope of the present inventionis not limited in this regard, 3 example techniques for quarantiningunknown devices include: (1) IEEE 802.1X with a RADIUS/AAA server formedia access control (MAC) layer isolation; (2) a DANE DNS server for IPnetwork or transport layer isolation over a virtual private network(VPN); and (3) a trusted gateway device for isolating non-IP protocolcapable devices from the owner's collection (domain).

Regardless of the particular network, all devices are quarantined bydefault and are released from quarantine if they can prove themselves amember of an established domain that the quarantine enforcement pointrecognizes and trusts. If the device cannot satisfy the proofrequirement, it may request that its ownership status be transferred tothe domain that is holding it in quarantine. Ownership transfer can beaccomplished using a variety of techniques. One such technique is adigital device title transfer technology, which may be applied while adevice is in the quarantine network, as one of the possible quarantineexit criteria. For example, a digital title transfer technique mayextend an IEEE 802.1X Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP) innermethod to establish a secure channel between the device's most trustedmode of operation and the domain's most trusted service provider, namelyits domain controller.

Following a change to a device title, the device is provisioned with adomain credential such as an EPID private key, where the EPID groupidentifies the domain or one of its sub-domains. Note that the domainnamespace may be orthogonal to that of IP networks, namely there neednot be a corresponding IPv4 or IPv6 network address association in orderfor the ownership transfer and domain membership to be accomplished. Inan embodiment, an EPID Join protocol, described further below, isapplied while in quarantine to provision a new (and possibly second EPIDkey) to the device. A first EPID key may be a manufacturer provisionedEPID key that establishes the device as a member of a manufacturerdefined group, where its manufactured state and security capabilitiescan be securely attested. Such base attestation may occur, for example,as part of establishing a secure channel to the domain controller whilein a quarantine network.

Membership in the domain authorizes the device to exit the quarantine,but before it can connect to a peer domain device it may requireadditional provisioning. For example, a device may be provisioned withfurther configuration information to learn of additional access pointsand VPN concentrator devices that expose additional domain resources.Provisioning of these settings may occur within the existing quarantinecontext, which can be re-established if the current connection is reset.Nevertheless, the member device though authorized is not able toestablish a connection to a peer device until it completes domainprovisioning.

In some embodiments, a device manufacturer may pre-configure deviceswith manufacturer credentials that establish initial trust in thedevice. Understand that manufacturer credentials do not automaticallyestablish the domain owner unless there is a business agreement in placewhereby the manufacturer agrees to pre-provision the intended owner'sdomain credential and settings.

In some embodiments, trust may be established for a domain through anInternet block chain, such as a Bitcoin block chain, where a transactioninvolving the domain owner may identify an EPID public key, where a keyanchor may be supplied to a DANE server. Association of the EPID anchorwith a block chain entry ensures that there is a consensus of blockchain processors that agree regarding the association and where the workrequired by an attacker to reverse that assertion is significant. Hence,a self-asserted domain identity as described herein may be moretrustworthy than any existing CA.

Referring now to FIG. 1, shown is a block diagram of an overview of anetworked system in accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention. More specifically, network 100 is shown at a high level ofabstraction, in that devices at a wide variety of locations and statescan interact. Certain devices, such as IoT devices, can be automaticallyand dynamically provisioned for on-boarding into a given domain. Furtherin network 100 known devices can be authenticated to enable theirinteraction within the network.

More specifically as shown in FIG. 1, a set of devices 105 are present,which may be manufactured IoT devices. In some cases, devices 105 may bein a manufactured state as individual components, such as integratedcircuits or other semiconductor devices to be integrated into adownstream IoT device. In other cases devices 105 may be IoT devicesthemselves, such as relatively low compute complexity devices. Suchexamples of IoT devices include wearable devices, sensors, actuators orother small form factor devices. In any event, devices 105 may bedevices of a given type (e.g., having a particular configuration) andidentified as a given type of device (e.g., type_T) by a manufacturer.To this end, such devices may communicate with another layer of thenetwork, namely a domain name system (DNS) service 140, which may be oneor more server computers such as DANE servers configured to perform DNSservices. This communication, represented at time instance 0 may occurafter manufacture but before devices 105 leave a manufacturing facility,to enable devices 105 to be registered as a device of a particular type(as stored in association with DNS service 140). In this unregisteredstate, understand that devices 105 may include some type of certificateor public key, such as a manufacturer EPID certificate or public key toindicate the status of these devices as being of a particular type. Notehowever that in this unregistered and unowned state, the devices do nototherwise have an identifier or association with any particular domain.

In FIG. 1, an unknown IoT device 110 is being on-boarded into an IoTnetwork (Domain_X) using an EPID-based domain credential. Understandalso that a known device's group membership is re-evaluated each time itconnects to a network. This approach supports both industrial IoT andconsumer IoT scenarios. In embodiments, a domain controller 150 managesmembership in a group of IoT devices that may be independent of the IPnetwork naming infrastructure.

A device that was newly manufactured is considered unknown to the domaincontroller because it has not yet been provisioned with a domaincredential. Nevertheless it contains a manufacturer provisionedcredential containing an EPID private key that is used to establish thedevice type, manufacturer and security attributes. The EPID key is usedto form a secure channel between domain controller 150 and device 110over which a different EPID key (group key) is provisioned; one thatestablishes device 110 a member of the domain (domain controller definedgroup). Domain controller 150 further establishes and registers itsself-asserted domain name with a DANE service provider 140. It uses theEPID public key, anchor hash or certificate to associate the domain keywith domain identity. Sub-division of devices within a domain collectioncan also be facilitated. Domain controller 150 may provide a sub-domainname according to the type of identifier use (e.g., URI, Object ID) ormay create a different basis for sub-domain (e.g.,UUID_Domain_X.UUID_Subdomain). Domain controller 150 registers itself asthe domain controller for handling device ownership transfer,on-boarding and provisioning requests for the given domain. It alsoregisters each device in the collection and the service type (orfunction) the device performs. DNS service 140 then may be contacted byother devices desiring to connect with device 110. By way of thiscontact, an IP address of the device is resolved, and further anidentity of which domain the device is a member and that it isauthorized to perform a device function (namely that of type_t).

DNS service 140 may be configured to maintain a registry of activedomains/sub-domains and the domain controller, access point and gatewaydevices that may be contacted whenever a connection is attempted by anIoT device. DNS service 140 may be configured to ensure the groupmembership(s) can be verified according to the intent of domaincontroller 150. If membership status cannot be verified, a device may beprevented from connecting to the domain (either via a L2, L3, L4 orgateway enforcement point).

As illustrated, at a later time (time instances 1 a and/or 1 b) a givenunknown IoT device 110 may seek to communicate within a given networksub-portion. More specifically as shown, unknown IoT device 110 may seekto communicate with an access point 120 and/or a gateway device 115. Inembodiments, unknown device 110 may communicate with access point 120via gateway device 115, when unknown device 110 does not have sufficientresources for direct communication with access point 120. Such situationmay adhere when unknown device 110 is not an Internet protocol(IP)-capable communication device. As examples, where unknown device 110is configured to communicate strictly via a given local wireless areanetwork connection such as a Bluetooth (e.g., Bluetooth low energy)communication protocol or a near field communication (NFC) technique,gateway device 115 may act as an intermediary between unknown device 110and access point 120. For example, a gateway device may be a mobileterminal or other portable computing device. In some cases, such gatewaydevice may include a processor having an Intel® Active ManagementTechnology (AMT) to perform protocol gateway functions on amanageability engine (which may be part of the processor or a separateco-processor in different embodiments). In various embodiments, accesspoint 120 may be an IEEE 802.1x access point, a wireless access point,or other local area network access point.

In the illustrated embodiment, note that both gateway device 115 andaccess point 120 are configured to be quarantine points of a remediationnetwork. More specifically, a remediation network may provide for aquarantine of unknown or unauthorized devices at multiple layers of amulti-level communication model, such as an International StandardsOrganization (ISO)-Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) model (e.g., thewell-known seven layer OSI model). In the specific embodiment shown,gateway device 115 may act at a gateway quarantine point, while accesspoint 120 may act at a Layer 2 (L2) or data link layer of thecommunication model. In this arrangement, a Layer 1 (L1) is a physicallayer followed by a data link layer (L2) followed by 5 additional layersending with an application layer (L7) at the “top.” Hence, the industrygenerally regards lower layers as being more primitive and higher layersbeing more end-to end and semantically rich.

A multi-layer remediation network as described herein may be configuredto assert the tightest (most constrictive) case being assertable at thelow layer (e.g., physical). In fact, the device itself could havephysical isolation properties such as an IO controller, manageabilitycontroller or security controller that may contain an even more tightlyconstrained property within the physical later. In general inembodiments herein, an unknown device may be placed in the mostconstrained environment possible and then allowed release for concentriccircles of constraint progressing up the communication stack (e.g., fromL1 to L7).

Still referring to FIG. 1, access point 120 communicates with a RADIUSserver 130 to perform provisioning with regard to unknown device 110 forprovisioning into a particular domain. In an embodiment, suchprovisioning communications may be in accordance with an EAP protocol,e.g., using the manufacturer EPID key. In turn, RADIUS server 130 may bein communication with DNS service 140 (at time instance 3 a) to verifythat unknown device 110 is of a given device type (here a type_Tdevice).

As further illustrated, at time instance 3 b, RADIUS server 130 may bein communication with domain controller 150. In embodiments, domaincontroller 150 may act as a manager for a given domain to manage groupmembership into such domain. As further illustrated, domain controller150 may be a quarantine enforcement point at yet another layer of thecommunication protocol. More specifically, domain controller 150 may beat a Layer 3 (L3) or network layer of the communication model.

Interaction between domain controller 150 and RADIUS server 130 mayresult in provisioning device 110 into a given domain (here domain_X).When such provisioning is realized, domain controller 150 may indicatethe same to RADIUS server, to in turn enable unknown device 110 to beremoved from the L2 quarantine point.

At this point (time instance 5), direct communication may occur betweendevice 110 and domain controller 150 (in some cases, while thiscommunication is direct, it may be intermediated by access point 120.This provisioning of device 110 into a given domain provides variousconfiguration settings and other information such as credentials intodevice 110 to enable it to be updated to be a known device state, suchas an owned device, meaning that it is to be controlled by way of domaincontroller 150. To this end, various communications may occur (such asat time instances 6 and 7) to enable authentication protocols to occurbetween known device 110 and access point 120 and RADIUS server 130 suchthat known device 110 can be on-boarded into the domain. At this point,as illustrated at time instance 8, the credentials for device 110 areverified by domain controller 150 such that the device may be releasedfrom the L3 enforcement point. Note that in some embodiments, additionalprovisioned material may be provided to device 110, such as differentIEEE 802.11i password settings to connect to other instances of accesspoint 120. If device 110 is to be permitted to exchange information witha known client 170, credentials for client 170 may be provisioned. Inaddition, there can be access control lists, certificates, authorizationprivileges, roles, etc. Other device management and configuration mayoccur including software update, installation of security monitoring,intrusion detection, antivirus scans, or so forth. Furthermore device110 could be assigned to a sub-group or zone or domain as a way toestablish locality of control and administration.

Still referring to FIG. 1, note that at least by time instance 9 (whichmay occur prior to any of the other activities shown in FIG. 1 in somecases), domain controller 150 may establish a domain name for the domainand provide it to a block chain provider 160. Block chain provider 160may be implemented as one or more server computers to provide blockchain ledger activities with regard to protected domains. In anembodiment, this communication with block chain provider 160 may includeposting of a public key anchor to a given block chain maintained byblock chain provider 160.

At time instance 10 (which again may occur prior to any of the otheractivities shown in FIG. 1 (with the exception of posting of the anchorto the block chain provider)), the domain and services available byknown device 110 may be registered with DNS service 140. As such, DNSservice 140 may supply, responsive to a request from other knownclients, such as known client 170, a domain record for known device 110.As such, at time instance 12, a connection request may be issued fromknown client 170 to known device 110, responsive to verification withinknown device 110, based on the record provided by DNS server 140, thatD1 is a given domain IoT device of a particular type. Thereafter, thesedevices may communicate and/or perform negotiation for further secureoperations. As one example, known device 110 may sign a message with itsgroup private key (e.g., domain-based EPID private key), and knowndevice 170 may validate the message using the domain EPID public key.Understand while shown at this high level in the embodiment of FIG. 1,many variations and alternatives are possible.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, the L2-L4 enforcement points along withgateway device 115 implement the quarantine capability at multiplelayers. The GW quarantine device is a way for non-IP protocol devices tobe quarantined. In such embodiments, network access control (NAC)features may be used as an enforcement point for the non-IP protocoldevice.

Referring now to FIG. 2, shown is a block diagram of a detailedindustrial IoT device on-boarding scenario in accordance with oneembodiment of the present invention. The device may use a manufacturerissued certificate to establish device trust while in the L2 quarantine.The device may be further provisioned and admitted into the domain bybeing issued a Domain_X credential based on an EPID key. The device IDand services it provides may be established by domain controller 150 whoalso registers the Domain_X credential and service type with a DANEservice. Device 110 is released from the L3 quarantine upon success.Release from quarantine means the DANE registration is completed anddomain controller 150 maintains a list of member devices that arequarantined. A domain controller may deny L3 access by other domainmember clients should a connection be attempted with a given device.

As shown in FIG. 2, as preamble activities, domain controller 150 mayregister as a domain controller using a public key for the domain (suchas an EPID public key) with DNS server 140. In addition, an associationmay be established between unknown device 110 and access point 120,which acts as an L2 enforcement point. Responsive to this establishment,a wide area network (WAN) port for the device may be blocked by accesspoint 120.

Thereafter, responsive to an identity request from access point 120,unknown device 110 may issue a domain join identity response that inturn causes access point 120 to issue a domain access request to radiusserver 130. In turn, an EAP-Join protocol may be performed which may usea manufacturer EPID certificate of unknown device 110 to attest to itsorigin. As such, at time instances 4 a and 4 b, this device may beverified as being of the appropriate device type based on thismanufacturer certificate and verify that the device is authorized to bea member of the domain.

Still referring to FIG. 2, this results in an EAP success, communicatedback to device 110, which causes initiation of an EAPOL key four-wayhandshake to occur between unknown device 110 and access point 120,resulting from the device being released from the L2 quarantine. At thispoint, IoT device provisioning may occur between device 110 and domaincontroller 150, including establishment of a long term ID created forthe device. Thereafter operations may be performed to add this device tothe domain by provisioning an EPID private key for the domain or a givensub-group of the domain. Finally, responsive to this provisioning, thedevice may be registered as a IoT device of the given type with DNSserver 140, after which the device may be released from the L3/L4quarantine.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a detailed method for a consumer IoTon-boarding scenario. In this embedment, a layer 3 quarantine isprovided, and a DANE DNS service vectors the unknown device to theappropriate Domain X controller that performs domain provisioning andmay subsequently release D1 from the L3 quarantine.

As illustrated in FIG. 3, in this embodiment, the same preparatoryactions with regard to 802.1x association (which may be by way offour-way handshake) and domain controller registration occur.Thereafter, the WAN port for unknown device 110 may be blocked, suchthat the DANE provisioning request for the domain can be sent using themanufacturer EPID certificate to establish trust. In turn, the responsefrom the DNS server 140 names domain controller 150 as the provisioningserver. As seen, a given protocol, such as an Intel® Sigma CE with anEPID Join protocol may be used to establish trust, using the same EPIDmanufacturer certificate. Thereafter, IoT device provisioning may occurbetween these devices, e.g., using a constrained authentication protocol(CoAP). During this provisioning, a long term ID can be created for thedevice. This provisioning concludes by adding device 110 to the domainby provisioning an EPID private key for the domain or other sub-group.After registration of the device with DNS server 140, the device may bereleased from the L3/1L4 quarantine.

Referring now to FIG. 4, shown is a block diagram of a detailed methodfor enabling a known industrial IoT device to connect securely to adomain network. More specifically, this connection uses domaincredentials that assert membership in the domain. As an example, adomain credential that establishes a group context may be used whenconnecting to a sub-domain and when obtaining IP services. Subsequent toa device being on-boarded and released from quarantine, it may attemptto connect to another on-boarded device, as described in FIG. 3. A DANEDNS request, in addition to supplying the IPv6 DNS name to IP addresstranslation, verifies the provisioned device credential (e.g., a EPIDresulting from a JoinP process during on-boarding), ensuring devices aremembers of an expected IoT network domain.

As illustrated in FIG. 4, after 802.1x association and blocking of a WANport for the device, various interactions occur, e.g., in an industrialIoT use case to perform an identity request and response, along with anaccess request, which may result in provisioning with an EPID for thedomain or other provisioned credential. Thereafter, an EAPOL keyfour-way handshake may occur, responsive to which the WAN port for thedevice is unblocked.

As further illustrated at a later time, another known device may obtainan EPID anchor for the domain from DNS server 140 and thereafter verifythat device 160 is a member of the domain, using this EPID credential.Thereafter, these devices may establish, e.g., an L3/L4 VPN or negotiatedatagram symmetric keys there between. In one embodiment, such symmetrickey negotiation may be according to a given key management capabilitysuch as the “Fluffy” key management system (e.g., Fluffy: Simplified KeyExchange for Constrained Environments, draft-hardjono-ace-fluffy-00(draft IETF Specification Mar. 23, 2015)).

Examples described herein use an EPID as an interesting group signingscheme for joining the on-boarded device to a collection. However, othergroup signing schemes may be used instead and may have differentsecurity and privacy properties. For example, a quantum-safe groupsigning algorithm may be quantum-safe but may not have the same privacyproperties.

Embodiments thus provide a capability to provide a quarantine of an IoTdevice from a device collection, e.g., from the point of manufacture andfrom a second owner by a first owner. An 802.1X access point, a L3and/or L4 VPN, and/or a DANE service collectively may be used toquarantine IoT devices that are not owned or not owned by the expectedowner, at different levels of a communication model. In an ownershiptransfer method as described herein, a device and its owner may beattesting during an on-boarding method before the device is allowed toexit one or more levels of the quarantine. In an example, an EPID Joinprotocol may be used during an 802.1X and EAP exchange to provision anEPID private key. Embodiments may be included in a variety of systemsincluding IoT gateway devices, IoT endpoint devices, cloud serviceproviders and services systems.

Referring now to FIG. 5, shown is a block diagram of a trusted executionenvironment in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.As shown in FIG. 5, TEE 200 may be implemented as all or part of a givenintegrated circuit. In some cases, TEE 200 may be a standalone chip,while in other cases TEE 200 may be a dedicated security engine of anIC, such as a processor or other SoC. In such cases, TEE 200 may operatein a secure manner that is hidden from untrusted hardware and software,including an untrusted OS. Such secure mode provides the TEE that isisolated from non-secure hardware/software/firmware. In exampleembodiments, a TEE of a device may leverage Intel® Software GuardExtensions (SGX), Intel® MemCore, Intel® Converged Security Engine(CSE), Intel® virtualization technology (VT-X), Intel® IOT-OS withSmack, ARM TrustZone, or any other secure environment. In some cases,the TEE may be implemented in a secure co-processor or hardware securitymodule.

In the illustrated embodiment, TEE 200 includes one or more processors210. Such processors may be implemented in different cases asgeneral-purpose processing cores, dedicated microcontrollers or otherparticular hardware circuitry. In any case, such processor 210 isimplemented as a form of hardware circuitry and is configured to executein a secure environment, that is, having operation that is hidden froman untrusted remainder of a system. As further illustrated, TEE includesa trusted storage 220. Such trusted storage may store variousconfiguration information, program logic and so forth. In some cases,trusted storage 220 may be implemented as combinations of volatile andpersistent storage. In addition, TEE 200 further includes at least oneinput/output (IO) circuit 230. In different embodiments, IO circuit 230may be configured to establish a secure connection with one or moreremote devices, such as IoT devices to be collected within a domain, aswell as other systems, including access points, RADIUS servers, DNSservices and so forth. Understand while shown with this particularhardware environment in the embodiment of FIG. 5, many variations andalternatives are possible.

FIG. 5 further illustrates a collection of dedicated hardware logicsthat may perform various security operations in accordance with theembodiments described herein. Understand while shown separate fromprocessor 210 for ease of illustration, in some cases these dedicatedhardware logics may be implemented within processor 210. In other cases,each such dedicated logic may be implemented as a separate hardwarecircuit. As illustrated, TEE 200 includes a query logic 240, aprovisioning logic 250, a posting logic 260, a registration logic 270, aquarantine logic 280 and a verification logic 290, and a manager logic295. Each of these logics may be configured to perform at least some ofthe secure on-boarding, domain management, and other operationsperformed by a domain controller as described herein.

In this regard, query logic 240 may be configured to communicate with anexternal DNS service among other Internet services, e.g., to determinewhether a given unknown device is verifiable as being of a particulartype (such that it may be considered for inclusion in a group of devicesbeing controlled within one or more domains by the domain controller).Provisioning logic 250 may be configured to perform provisioningoperations to enable an unknown device, when verified to be of aparticular type, to be on-boarded into a domain managed by the domaincontroller. In turn, posting logic 260 may be configured to postanchoring information regarding the domain, such as a public key anchor,to a block chain or other public ledger to establish identification ofthe domain.

As further illustrated in FIG. 5, registration logic 270 may beconfigured to register the domain and services of various devices withinthe domain with one or more Internet services, such as a DNS service.Quarantine logic 280 may be configured to act as a quarantine orenforcement point of a multi-layer remediation network for unrecognizedand/or unauthorized devices for a given layer of a multi-layercommunication hierarchy. In embodiments described herein, quarantinelogic 280 may be configured to be an enforcement point at the L3 and/orL4 layers. A verification logic 290 may be configured to verifycredentials of a known device, e.g., responsive to a request from aRADIUS server. Responsive to such verification, the given device may bereleased from the quarantine point by quarantine logic 280. In addition,a management logic 295 is provided. Such management logic 295 may beconfigured to perform domain management activities for the owned domain.Such management activities may include the above-described on-boardingas well as removal of domains, interaction with other layers and devicesand so forth. Understand while described at this high level in theembodiment of FIG. 5, many variations and alternatives are possible.

As described above, in one embodiment, an EPID Join protocol may be usedby a member to interact with the issuer to obtain a unique Intel® EPIDprivate key such that the member's private key is unknown to the issuer.Note that the issuer may authenticate the member through othermechanisms. The join protocol has the following steps, in oneembodiment:

-   -   1. An authentication server (Issuer) chooses an EPID group for        the domain. Let gid be the chosen group ID. Let (gid, h1, h2, w)        (where h1 and h2 are elements in G1 and w is an element of G2,        used to generate a group public key) be the group public key and        (gid, gamma) (where gamma is an integer between [1, p−1] be the        group issuing private key. The gid may be chosen to be a 128-bit        value corresponding to a subnet. If the subnet mask is shorter        it will be padded with zeros.    -   2. Let NI be a 256-bit nonce chosen by the issuer.    -   3. The member chooses a random integer f between [1, p−1] or        derives f between [1, p−1] from some seed value. This step is        out of the scope of this specification.    -   4. The member runs a JoinP-process to create a join request (F,        c, s) (where c and s are integers between [1, p−1]. The JoinP        process is specified below.    -   5. The member sends the join request (F, c, s) to the issuer.    -   6. The issuer runs the JoinI process to create a membership        credential (gid, A, x) (where A is an element of G1 and x is an        integer between [1, p−1] for the member). The JoinI process is        specified below.    -   7. The issuer sends the membership credential (gid, A, x) to the        member.    -   8. The member concatenates the membership credential (gid, A, x)        received and the f value generated in step 3 into an EPID        private key (gid, A, x, f). The member can validate the private        key, e.g., as specified by a PKI server.

The details of a JoinP algorithm in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent invention is specified in Table 1:

TABLE 1 Input (gid, h1, h2, w): an EPID group public key f: an integerbetween [1, p−1] NI: a 256-bit string Output (F, c, s): a join requestSteps The following variables F, R (elements of G1), and r, c, s(256-bit integers) are used. 1. The member chooses a random integer rfrom [1, p−1]. 2. The member computes F = G1.sscmExp(h1, f). 3. Themember computes R = G1.sscmExp(h1, r). 4. The member computes c =Fp.hash(p ∥ g1 ∥ g2 ∥ h1 ∥ h2 ∥ w ∥ F ∥ R ∥ NI). 5. The member computess = (r + c · f) mod p. 6. The output join request is (F, c, s).

The details of a JoinI algorithm in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent invention is specified in Table 2:

TABLE 2 Input (gid, h1, h2, w): an EPID group public key (gid, gamma):the issuing private key corresponding to the public key NI: a 256-bitstring (F, c, s): a join request Output (gid, A, x): a membershipcredential Steps The following variables R, t3, A (elements of G1), andnc, x, t1, t2 (256- bit integers) are used. 1. The issuer verifiesG1.inGroup(F) is true. 2. The issuer verifies s in [0, p−1]. 3. Theissuer computes no = (−c) mod p. 4. The issuer computes R =G1.multiExp(h1, s, F, nc). 5. The issuer verifies c = Fp.hash(p ∥ g1 ∥g2 ∥ h1 ∥ h2 ∥ w ∥ F ∥ R ∥ NI). 6. If any of the above verificationsfail, the join request is invalid, and the issuer aborts and outputsfailure. 7. The issuer chooses x randomly from [1, p−1]. 8. The issuercomputes integer t1 = (gamma + x) mod p. 9. The issuer computes integert2 = inverse(t1) mod p, the inverse of t1 modulo p. 10. The issuercomputes t3 = G1.mul(g1, F). 11. The issuer computes A = G1.exp(t3, t2).12. The output membership credential is (gid, A, x).

Referring now to FIG. 6, shown is a block diagram of an example systemwith which embodiments can be used. System 900 may be an IoT device thatcan be provisioned into a domain from an unknown state. In other casessystem 900 may be a gateway device which may act as an intermediarybetween a non-IP device and an access point as described herein. In anexample, system 900 may be a smartphone or other wireless communicatoror any other IoT device. A baseband processor 905 is configured toperform various signal processing with regard to communication signalsto be transmitted from or received by the system. In turn, basebandprocessor 905 is coupled to an application processor 910, which may be amain CPU of the system to execute an OS and other system software, inaddition to user applications such as many well-known social media andmultimedia apps. Application processor 910 may further be configured toperform a variety of other computing operations for the device.

In turn, application processor 910 can couple to a userinterface/display 920, e.g., a touch screen display. In addition,application processor 910 may couple to a memory system including anon-volatile memory, namely a flash memory 930 and a system memory,namely a DRAM 935. In some embodiments, flash memory 930 may include asecure portion 932 in which secrets and other sensitive information maybe stored. As further seen, application processor 910 also couples to acapture device 945 such as one or more image capture devices that canrecord video and/or still images.

Still referring to FIG. 6, a universal integrated circuit card (UICC)940 comprises a subscriber identity module, which in some embodimentsincludes a secure storage 942 to store secure user information. System900 may further include a security processor 950 that may that mayimplement a TEE, and which may couple to application processor 910.Furthermore, application processor 910 may implement a secure mode ofoperation, such as Intel® SGX extensions to a given instruction setarchitecture, and circuitry for hosting of a TEE. Security processor 950and/or application processor 910 may be configured to performprovisioning on the basis of an included manufacturer certificate, asdescribed herein, to enable system 900 to join a domain and thereafterinteract with other devices, e.g., within the domain. A plurality ofsensors 925, including one or more multi-axis accelerometers may coupleto application processor 910 to enable input of a variety of sensedinformation such as motion and other environmental information. Inaddition, one or more authentication devices 995 may be used to receive,e.g., user biometric input for use in authentication operations.

As further illustrated, a near field communication (NFC) contactlessinterface 960 is provided that communicates in a NFC near field via anNFC antenna 965. While separate antennae are shown in FIG. 6, understandthat in some implementations one antenna or a different set of antennaemay be provided to enable various wireless functionality.

A power management integrated circuit (PMIC) 915 couples to applicationprocessor 910 to perform platform level power management. To this end,PMIC 915 may issue power management requests to application processor910 to enter certain low power states as desired. Furthermore, based onplatform constraints, PMIC 915 may also control the power level of othercomponents of system 900.

To enable communications to be transmitted and received such as in oneor more IoT networks, various circuitry may be coupled between basebandprocessor 905 and an antenna 990. Specifically, a radio frequency (RF)transceiver 970 and a wireless local area network (WLAN) transceiver 975may be present. In general, RF transceiver 970 may be used to receiveand transmit wireless data and calls according to a given wirelesscommunication protocol such as 3G or 4G wireless communication protocolsuch as in accordance with a code division multiple access (CDMA),global system for mobile communication (GSM), long term evolution (LTE)or other protocol. In addition a GPS sensor 980 may be present, withlocation information being provided to security processor 950 for use asdescribed herein when context information is to be used in a pairingprocess. Other wireless communications such as receipt or transmissionof radio signals, e.g., AM/FM and other signals may also be provided. Inaddition, via WLAN transceiver 975, local wireless communications, suchas according to a Bluetooth™ or IEEE 802.11 standard can also berealized.

Referring now to FIG. 7, shown is a block diagram of a system inaccordance with another embodiment of the present invention. As shown inFIG. 7, multiprocessor system 1000 is a point-to-point interconnectsystem such as a server system, and includes a first processor 1070 anda second processor 1080 coupled via a point-to-point interconnect 1050.In an embodiment, system 1000 may be a domain controller or a DNSserver, depending on implementation. As shown in FIG. 7, each ofprocessors 1070 and 1080 may be multicore processors such as SoCs,including first and second processor cores (i.e., processor cores 1074 aand 1074 b and processor cores 1084 a and 1084 b), although potentiallymany more cores may be present in the processors. In addition,processors 1070 and 1080 each may include a secure engine 1075 and 1085to perform domain processing and management, and/or DNS services asdescribed herein, among other operations.

Still referring to FIG. 7, first processor 1070 further includes amemory controller hub (MCH) 1072 and point-to-point (P-P) interfaces1076 and 1078. Similarly, second processor 1080 includes a MCH 1082 andP-P interfaces 1086 and 1088. As shown in FIG. 7, MCH's 1072 and 1082couple the processors to respective memories, namely a memory 1032 and amemory 1034, which may be portions of main memory (e.g., a DRAM) locallyattached to the respective processors. First processor 1070 and secondprocessor 1080 may be coupled to a chipset 1090 via P-P interconnects1052 and 1054, respectively. As shown in FIG. 7, chipset 1090 includesP-P interfaces 1094 and 1098.

Furthermore, chipset 1090 includes an interface 1092 to couple chipset1090 with a high performance graphics engine 1038, by a P-P interconnect1039. In turn, chipset 1090 may be coupled to a first bus 1016 via aninterface 1096. As shown in FIG. 7, various input/output (I/O) devices1014 may be coupled to first bus 1016, along with a bus bridge 1018which couples first bus 1016 to a second bus 1020. Various devices maybe coupled to second bus 1020 including, for example, a keyboard/mouse1022, communication devices 1026 and a data storage unit 1028 such as anon-volatile storage or other mass storage device. As seen, data storageunit 1028 may include code 1030, in one embodiment. As further seen,data storage unit 1028 also includes a trusted storage 1029 to storesensitive information to be protected. Further, an audio I/O 1024 may becoupled to second bus 1020.

Embodiments may be used in environments where IoT devices may includewearable devices or other small form factor IoT devices. Referring nowto FIG. 8, shown is a block diagram of a wearable module 1300 inaccordance with another embodiment. In one particular implementation,module 1300 may be an Intel® Curie™ module that includes multiplecomponents adapted within a single small module that can be implementedas all or part of a wearable device. Module 1300 may be configured witha manufacturer credential during factory operations, to thereafterenable the device to be included in a domain, via interaction through anaccess point and/or gateway device as described herein. As seen, module1300 includes a core 1310 (of course in other embodiments more than onecore may be present). Such core may be a relatively low complexityin-order core, such as based on an Intel Architecture® Quark™ design. Insome embodiments, core 1310 may implement a TEE as described herein.Core 1310 couples to various components including a sensor hub 1320,which may be configured to interact with a plurality of sensors 1380,such as one or more biometric, motion, environmental or other sensors. Apower delivery circuit 1330 is present, along with a non-volatilestorage 1340. In an embodiment, this circuit may include a rechargeablebattery and a recharging circuit, which may in one embodiment receivecharging power wirelessly. One or more input/output (IO) interfaces1350, such as one or more interfaces compatible with one or more ofUSB/SPI/I²C/GPIO protocols, may be present. In addition, a wirelesstransceiver 1390, which may be a Bluetooth™ low energy or othershort-range wireless transceiver is present to enable wirelesscommunications as described herein. Understand that in differentimplementations a wearable module can take many other forms. Wearableand/or IoT devices have, in comparison with a typical general purposeCPU or a GPU, a small form factor, low power requirements, limitedinstruction sets, relatively slow computation throughput, or any of theabove.

The following Examples pertain to further embodiments.

In Example 1, a system comprises: an access point having at least onefirst hardware processor, the access point comprising a first layer of aremediation network, the remediation network to prevent network accessby unknown devices; a first server coupled to the access point, thefirst server having at least one second hardware processor, the firstserver to verify that a first unknown device is trusted based at leastin part on a manufacturer credential of the first unknown device, themanufacturer credential to indicate a type of device; and a domaincontroller coupled to the first server, the domain controller having atleast one third hardware processor, the domain controller to manage adomain, the domain controller to communicate with the first server toprovision the first unknown device into the domain, where the domaincontroller comprises a second layer of the remediation network andresponsive to the provisioning of the first unknown device into thedomain, the first unknown device is to be released from the first layerof the remediation network.

In Example 2, the domain controller is further to communicate with thefirst server to verify a set of credentials, to enable the first unknowndevice to join the domain and establish the first unknown device as aknown device.

In Example 3, the domain controller of Example 2 is, responsive toverification of the set of credentials, to issue a second credential tothe first unknown device, the second credential comprising a groupprivate key, where a message signed by the group private key is to beverified by a group public key for the domain.

In Example 4, responsive to establishment of an association between thefirst unknown device and the access point, the access point is to enablecommunication of a provisioning request to a DNS server to enable thefirst unknown device to obtain an identification of the domaincontroller.

In Example 5, the DNS server of Example 4 is to maintain a registry ofactive domains including the domain, and to indicate, responsive to arequest from a device, whether another device is a member of an activedomain.

In Example 6, the system further comprises a gateway device coupled tothe access point, the gateway device comprising a third layer of theremediation network, where the gateway device is to enable the firstunknown device to communicate with the access point, where the firstunknown device comprises a non-Internet protocol device.

In Example 7, the domain controller of one or more of the above Examplesis to register the first device with the DNS server, to indicate thatthe first device is a member of the domain and, responsive toregistration of the first device with the DNS server, remove the firstdevice from the second quarantine point.

In Example 8, the domain controller of one or more of the above Examplescomprises a trusted execution environment including a provisioninglogic, a quarantine logic and a management logic.

In Example 9, a method comprises: receiving, in a domain controller of adomain managed by the domain controller, a request from a first deviceto join the domain, the domain controller comprising a first quarantinepoint at a first layer of a multi-layer communication model;communicating with a DNS server to determine whether the first device isa first device type, based at least in part on a manufacturercertificate for the first device; based on the determination, verifyingthat the first device is authorized to be a member of the domain andcommunicating the verification to a second server coupled to the domaincontroller; and, responsive to an authentication protocol performedbetween the second server and the first device, removing the firstdevice from a second quarantine point at a second layer of themulti-layer communication model, where the second layer is a lower layerof the multi-layer communication model than the first layer, the secondquarantine point more restrictive than the first quarantine point. Notethat by being more restrictive, it is meant that the range of possiblereachable IoT devices is fewer.

In Example 10, the method further comprises self-asserting, via thedomain controller, a name for the domain and registering the domain withthe DNS server based at least in part on a group public key, the nameindependent of an Internet protocol network naming convention.

In Example 11, the method further comprises provisioning a group privatekey for the first device responsive to removal of the first device fromthe second quarantine point.

In Example 12, the method further comprises registering the first devicewith the DNS server, to indicate that the first device is a member ofthe domain.

In Example 13, the method of Example 12 further comprises, responsive toregistration of the first device with the DNS server, removing the firstdevice from the second quarantine point.

In Example 14, the method of one or more of the above Examples furthercomprises providing a public key for the domain to a block chainservice, the block chain service comprising a ledger for transfer ofownership of one or more devices including the first device to thedomain.

In another example, a computer readable medium including instructions isto perform the method of any of the above Examples.

In another example, a computer readable medium including data is to beused by at least one machine to fabricate at least one integratedcircuit to perform the method of any one of the above Examples.

In another example, an apparatus comprises means for performing themethod of any one of the above Examples.

In Example 15, a domain controller comprises: a quarantine logic toquarantine unknown devices from unrestricted network access, thequarantine logic comprising a first quarantine point at a first layer ofa multi-layer communication model; a first logic to communicate with aDNS service to self-allocate and register a domain name with the DNSservice, the domain name associated with a domain to be managed by thedomain controller; a second logic to manage a group of devices of thedomain; and a third logic to receive a provisioning request for a firstdevice via an access point, where the access point comprises a secondquarantine point at a second layer of the multi-level communicationmodel.

In Example 16, the third logic is to verify a device type of the firstdevice with the DNS service.

In Example 17, the third logic is, responsive to verification that thefirst device is of a first device type, to provision the first deviceinto the domain.

In Example 18, the third logic is to send a provisioning response to theaccess point to enable the first device to be removed from the secondquarantine point, to enable the first device to communicate with thedomain controller.

In Example 19, the third logic is to provision a first group private keyfor the first device and provide the first group private key to thefirst device, the first group private key associated with a group publickey for the domain, the group public key further provided from thedomain controller to a block chain provider for storage in a block chainledger.

In Example 20, the domain controller of one or more of the aboveExamples further comprises a fourth logic to provide a public key forthe domain to a block chain service, the block chain service comprisinga ledger for transfer of ownership of one or more devices including thefirst device to the domain.

In Example 21, a controller comprises: quarantine means for quarantiningunknown devices from unrestricted network access, the quarantine meanscomprising a first quarantine point at a first layer of a multi-layercommunication model; means for communicating with a DNS service toself-allocate and register a domain name with the DNS service, thedomain name associated with a domain to be managed by the controller;means for managing a group of devices of the domain; and provisioningmeans for receiving a provisioning request for a first device via anaccess point, where the access point comprises a second quarantine pointat a second layer of the multi-level communication model.

In Example 22, the provisioning means is to verify a device type of thefirst device with the DNS service.

In Example 23, the provisioning means is to: responsive to verificationthat the first device is of a first device type, provision the firstdevice into the domain; and thereafter send a provisioning response tothe access point to enable the first device to be removed from thesecond quarantine point, to enable the first device to communicate withthe controller.

Understand that various combinations of the above Examples are possible

Embodiments may be used in many different types of systems. For example,in one embodiment a communication device can be arranged to perform thevarious methods and techniques described herein. Of course, the scope ofthe present invention is not limited to a communication device, andinstead other embodiments can be directed to other types of apparatusfor processing instructions, or one or more machine readable mediaincluding instructions that in response to being executed on a computingdevice, cause the device to carry out one or more of the methods andtechniques described herein.

Embodiments may be implemented in code and may be stored on anon-transitory storage medium having stored thereon instructions whichcan be used to program a system to perform the instructions. Embodimentsalso may be implemented in data and may be stored on a non-transitorystorage medium, which if used by at least one machine, causes the atleast one machine to fabricate at least one integrated circuit toperform one or more operations. Still further embodiments may beimplemented in a computer readable storage medium including informationthat, when manufactured into a SoC or other processor, is to configurethe SoC or other processor to perform one or more operations. Thestorage medium may include, but is not limited to, any type of diskincluding floppy disks, optical disks, solid state drives (SSDs),compact disk read-only memories (CD-ROMs), compact disk rewritables(CD-RWs), and magneto-optical disks, semiconductor devices such asread-only memories (ROMs), random access memories (RAMs) such as dynamicrandom access memories (DRAMs), static random access memories (SRAMs),erasable programmable read-only memories (EPROMs), flash memories,electrically erasable programmable read-only memories (EEPROMs),magnetic or optical cards, or any other type of media suitable forstoring electronic instructions.

While the present invention has been described with respect to a limitednumber of embodiments, those skilled in the art will appreciate numerousmodifications and variations therefrom. It is intended that the appendedclaims cover all such modifications and variations as fall within thetrue spirit and scope of this present invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A domain controller comprising: a quarantinelogic to quarantine unknown devices from unrestricted network access,the quarantine logic comprising a first quarantine point at a firstlayer of a multi-layer communication model; a first logic to communicatewith a domain name system (DNS) service to self-allocate and register adomain name with the DNS service, the domain name associated with adomain to be managed by the domain controller; a second logic to managea group of devices of the domain; and a third logic to receive aprovisioning request for a first device via an access point, wherein theaccess point comprises a second quarantine point at a second layer ofthe multi-level communication model.
 2. The domain controller of claim1, wherein the third logic is to verify a device type of the firstdevice with the DNS service.
 3. The domain controller of claim 2,wherein the third logic is, responsive to verification that the firstdevice is of a first device type, to provision the first device into thedomain.
 4. The domain controller of claim 3, wherein the third logic isto send a provisioning response to the access point to enable the firstdevice to be removed from the second quarantine point, to enable thefirst device to communicate with the domain controller.
 5. The domaincontroller of claim 4, wherein: the second layer is a lower layer of themulti-layer communication model than the first layer, and the secondquarantine point is more restrictive than the first quarantine point;the quarantine logic is to hold the unknown devices in the firstquarantine point; and the provisioning response is to cause the accesspoint to complete an authentication protocol with the first device and,in response to completion of the authentication protocol, remove thefirst device from the second quarantine point.
 6. The domain controllerof claim 4, wherein the quarantine logic is to remove the first devicefrom the first quarantine point in response to registration of the firstdevice with the DNS service.
 7. The domain controller of claim 6,wherein to provision the first device into the domain comprises toregister the first device with the DNS service, to indicate that thefirst device is a member of the domain.
 8. The domain controller ofclaim 3, wherein the third logic is to provision a first group privatekey for the first device and provide the first group private key to thefirst device, the first group private key associated with a group publickey for the domain, the group public key further provided from thedomain controller to a block chain provider for storage in a block chainledger.
 9. The domain controller of claim 3, further comprising a fourthlogic to provide a public key for the domain to a block chain service,the block chain service comprising a ledger for transfer of ownership ofone or more devices including the first device to the domain.
 10. Atleast one computer readable storage medium comprising instructions thatwhen executed enable a system to operate as a domain controller, thedomain controller to perform operations comprising: in a domain managedby the domain controller, quarantining unknown devices at a firstquarantine point at a first layer of a multi-layer communication model,wherein the first quarantine point resides in the domain controller, andwherein quarantining the unknown devices at the first quarantine pointprevents the unknown devices from having unrestricted network access;self-allocating a domain name for the domain, and communicating with adomain name system (DNS) service, to register the domain name with theDNS service; managing a group of devices of the domain; and receiving aprovisioning request for a first device via an access point, wherein theaccess point comprises a second quarantine point at a second layer ofthe multi-level communication model.
 11. The computer readable medium ofclaim 10, wherein the instructions enable the domain controller toverify a device type of the first device with the DNS service.
 12. Thecomputer readable medium of claim 11, wherein the instructions enablethe domain controller to provision the first device into the domain, inresponse to verification that the first device is of a first devicetype.
 13. The computer readable medium of claim 12, wherein theinstructions enable the domain controller to send a provisioningresponse to the access point to enable the first device to be removedfrom the second quarantine point, to enable the first device tocommunicate with the domain controller.
 14. The computer readable mediumof claim 13, wherein: the second layer is a lower layer of themulti-layer communication model than the first layer, and the secondquarantine point is more restrictive than the first quarantine point;the instructions enable the domain controller to hold the unknowndevices in the first quarantine point; and the provisioning response isto cause the access point to complete an authentication protocol withthe first device and, in response to completion of the authenticationprotocol, remove the first device from the second quarantine point. 15.The computer readable medium of claim 13, wherein the instructionsenable the domain controller to remove the first device from the firstquarantine point in response to registration of the first device withthe DNS service.
 16. The computer readable medium of claim 15, whereinto provision the first device into the domain comprises to register thefirst device with the DNS service, to indicate that the first device isa member of the domain.
 17. The computer readable medium of claim 12,wherein the instructions enable the domain controller to: provision afirst group private key for the first device and provide the first groupprivate key to the first device, wherein the first group private key isassociated with a group public key for the domain; and provide the grouppublic key to a block chain provider for storage in a block chainledger.
 18. The computer readable medium of claim 12, wherein theinstructions enable the domain controller to provide a public key forthe domain to a block chain service, wherein the block chain servicecomprises a ledger for transfer of ownership of one or more devicesincluding the first device to the domain.
 19. A method to be performedby a domain controller, the method comprising: quarantining unknowndevices at a first quarantine point at a first layer of a multi-layercommunication model, wherein quarantining the unknown devices at thefirst quarantine point prevents the unknown devices from havingunrestricted network access; self-allocating a domain name for a domainto be managed by the domain controller; communicating with a domain namesystem (DNS) service, to register the domain name with the DNS service;managing a group of devices of the domain; and receiving a provisioningrequest for a first device via an access point, wherein the access pointcomprises a second quarantine point at a second layer of the multi-levelcommunication model.
 20. A method according to claim 19, furthercomprising: holding the unknown devices in the first quarantine point;verifying a device type of the first device with the DNS service;provisioning the first device into the domain, in response toverification that the first device is of a first device type; andsending a provisioning response to the access point to enable the firstdevice to be removed from the second quarantine point, to enable thefirst device to communicate with the domain controller; wherein theprovisioning response is to cause the access point to complete anauthentication protocol with the first device and, in response tocompletion of the authentication protocol, to remove the first devicefrom the second quarantine point; and wherein the second layer is alower layer of the multi-layer communication model than the first layer,and the second quarantine point is more restrictive than the firstquarantine point.